Geoff Johns Shows Off The Green Lantern Known as Tomar-Re

Green Lantern is, along with Thor, one of the most highly anticipated superhero films of next year. But whereas Thor’s trailer garnered nearly universal acclaim in the geek community, Green Lantern’s trailer has been criticized for its over reliance on hokey CGI and Iron Man–meets-Van Wilder comedy stylings.

The creature designs on the other hand have thus far been fairly well-received. Though we’ve only seen a few – Kilowog, Sinestro and Tomar-Re, for example – they’ve all looked pretty good, or as good as can be expected this early in the production process. Now, courtesy of Green Lantern issue #61, we’ve got the clearest look yet at Tomar-Re with a personalized note from author Geoff Johns.

Click the pictures below to see the full scans:

For those that don’t know the first thing about the fishy-looking Green Lantern known as Tomar-Re, Geoff Johns, the current writer of the Green Lantern comic book and the Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment, has the full rundown:

“Growing up on the planet Xudar, Tomar-Re comes from a peaceful avian race that focuses their efforts on the arts and sciences instead of war. His nature to examine everything has led the Guardians of the Universe to appoint him the archivist and protector of the sacred Book of Oa. When not studying the nature of the Corps, Tomar-Re patrols sector 2813 where he developed a close friendship with neighboring sector 2814’s Green Lantern, Abin Sur. Tomar has taken an interest in Abin’s replacement, Hal Jordan. Though Hal is not one for details, Tomar hopes to teach Hal what it means to be a Green Lantern.”

As Chief Creative Officer, Johns got an inside look into how the Green Lantern design team brought the various Green Lanterns and creatures to virtual life:

“We’ve watched test after test supervised by digital effects master Jim Berney based on the amazing design work by Grant [Major] and Ngila [Dickson]. Their passion for detail is much like Tomar-Re’s. Something I found extremely interesting was the mix of motion capture and straight-up animation they used in creating the Green Lantern Corps. Some of the more humanoid Corps members like Tomar-Re and Kilowog started with motion capture, but most of their flying and movement beyond simple interaction was animated, some based on the movement of insects or animals and others created completely from scratch – giving them all a unique, and alien, feel. It’s this attention to detail – from the scales on Tomar-Re’s skin to the way he turns when he flies into the air – that will give the Green Lantern Corps more life than it’s ever seen.”

Lastly, for those doubting the quality of the coming Green Lantern film, Geoff Johns, who has absolutely no reason to exaggerate the quality of anything related to Green Lantern ever (nope, no sir, nuh-uh!), is here to reassure you:

“With talented people like Grant, Ngila and Jim and his team pouring their heart and soul into [the movie], it makes you realize even more than you might already know how truly amazing the Green Lantern universe is.”

In the note, Johns referenced the fishy, scaly texture of Tomar-Re’s suit (above), which is very reminiscent of the muscular texture of Hal Jordan’s suit. Does this mean that the suits visually reflect the biological nature of the creatures who wear them? It seems that way, yes. It’s very possible that this creative choice will prove to be incredibly successful, but I have to wonder – did we really need to complicate something that was already working? Perhaps the busy look of the Green Lantern suits is one of the reasons they haven’t worked for so many. Sometimes, as they say, less is more.

You can find the above images in the back of the most recent issue of Green Lantern (#61), written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Doug Mahnke. The Green Lanternmovie, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Ryan Reynolds, hits theaters June 17th, 2011.